Shank-piece for boots and shoes.



' J. H. WAITE.

SHANK PIECE FOR BOOTS AND SHOES.

APPLICATION FILED P31117, 1912,

Patented! July 22, 1913.

llllllTEU STATES FFIE.

JOHN 1l. "WAfE, F JBRCKTUW, MASSCHUSTT.

Specification of letters latent.

Fatented July 2%, 19rd.

Application filed February 1'?, 1h19. Ferial No. elltl.

l boot or shoe with a practicable and efficient shank piece of a noveland economical form which while having all the strength of an ordinaryshank piece will be more flexible, and therefore, more comfortable tothe wearer.

'llhe invent-ion also has for one of its objects the provision of thesedevices of such a form and nature that they will tend to prevent thefalling of the arch in a normal foot and will also efficiently supportan arch that has already fallen.

'l`he principal cause for the development of fallen arches is thelcheapening of the shoe and particularly of the shank thereof. @n accountof the construction of this part with the main supporting elementconcealed, it can be cheapened very easily without detection and thishas been done to such a degree within recent years that even the betterclasses of shoes have been materially weakened. lhis invention providesyfo-r strengthening this part of the shoe without materially increasingthe costi; lt may be remarked also that another cause of thisdifficult-y is the almost universal demand for light hand sewed orGoodyear shoes. By this invention the advantages thereof are securedwithout danger of weakening the arches, and in fact with an accompanyingmeans for supporting them. v

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure lis a side elevation of a portion of a shoe constructed in accordancewith this invention ;y Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view thereof with partsremoved to show interior construction; Fig. 3 is a transverse sectionalview on the line 33 of Fig. 2, and Fig. l is a side view of the archreinforcing piece.

The invention is shown in simple form, and as the order of steps inmanufacture is substantially the same as that commonly employed formachine made shoes, it need not be described in detail.

vllhe shoe is shown as having a vamp il, insole 9, counter 10, welt 11,and outsole 12. 'llhe reinforcing piece 13 consists of a single piece ofleather skived around its edges and provided with one straight edge 1aand a continuously curved edge 15 opposite. lhis is placed in the shoeafter the pounter is in, coming between the lining and the upper on theinnerv side of the shank. Freferably it just laps over the inner end ofthe counter.. rlFhe straight edge 1l is drawn in and lasted, temporarilytacked to the last". rllhen it is rmly secured in position by sewingthrough the channel 16 in the insole to unite the upper, lining, welt,and reinforcement to 'the insole by a row of stitches 17. llt will beseen that the straight edge permits the reinforcement to be drawn overthe edge of the insole and to be secured thereto convene iently in themanner just described. At the same time it does not involve the makingof a different shape at this point from that vwhich ordinarily prevailsas is the case with integral reinforcements heretofore proposed. And itcan be made of a dilerent material from the insole and preferably ismade of stiffer firmer material like the counter. Although it materiallystrengthens the shank at this point and effectively supports the instepit still is capable of yielding sufliciently to make a comfortable shoeand it is particularly comfortable on account of the fact that it can bemade to lit'just as closely to the foot' as does any shoe that isImachine made. lt will be seen also that the shape ofthereinforcementiis such that it can be made with very little waste andeven from small pieces of leather, and also it can be made of differentkinds of leather according to the amount of rigidity or fleibilitydesired. As a particular addition to this feature, attention is calledto the shank piece which is shown as composed of two pieces of springsteel Q() and 21. Thejpiece Qdis secured to the sole ixedly at a pointsubstantially as far forward as the front end of the reinforcing stripVand the piece 21 is secured at the opposite end at a 'point near theadjacent end of the reinforcing strip. The piece 20 is provided with twoprojections 22 separated from each other so as to constitute abifurcated structure extending rearward so as just to overlap the frontedge of the piece 9.1. The piece 21 has a single projection 23 extendingforwardly betweenv -exert pressure upon them and to receive pressurefrom themwhile the shoe is being worn. This shank piece is `an importantfeature, as it has great flexibility, but yet is very strong. It is soshaped that practically l no metal is lost in stamping out the twomembers that compose. it and, taken altogether, it is almostco-extensive in length withlthe reinforcing piece. Their adjacent edgesextend along substantially parallel with each other and very closetogether throughout their lengths. In this way this' part of the shoe ismade flexible to a certain extent and yet it is so strong as to hold upthe arch effectively. It will be seen therefore that these two featuresmutually coperate to produce the desired result, and that they are solocated with respect to each other that each assists the other in doingso.

Although I have illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of theinvention and shown it as appliedto a particulartype of shoe, it is tobe understood that I am aware that the invention can'be" 'carried out inother forms and can be applied to many other types of boots and shoes`without departing from the scope of the invention as expressed in theclaims. Therefore I do not wish to be limited' to all the details hereinshown and described, but

What I do claim is 1. As an article of manufacture, a shank piece forboots and shoes consisting of two steelmembers, one member adapted to beSecured firmly to the insole at one end and having two separatedprojections extending therefrom in the same plane and free at theirends, the other fixed atthe opposite end and having a single projectionextending freely therefrom between the two projections on the othermember.

2. As an article of manufacture, a shank piece for boots and shoesconsisting of two members, one member adapted to be secured lirmly tothe insole at one end and having two separated projections extendingtherefrom and free at their ends, the other adapted to be xed at theopposite end and having a projection extending freely therefrombetweenthe two projections on the other member, the two projections extendingtoward the heel and the other projection away from the heel, and eachprojection overlapping the other member near itsy end.

In testimony whereof I havehereunto set my hand in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses. y

' JOI-IN H. WAITE. Witnesses:

DAVID W. BActTms, WILLIAM A. BoYDEN.

